Virtual prototyping methodology for assessment of the interaction between wire bond pad design and bond process parameters to enhance the robustness of copper wire bond interconnect

Wire bond interconnection still remains to be one of the most important fields of study in IC packaging development. The robustness of the interconnection between the bond wire and the bond pad are highly dependent on several key factors, mainly: 1) bond pad design, 2) capillary design, and 3) wire bond profile. Consequently, these factors also affect the package quality and reliability. Destructive test methods such as bond pull test and bond shear test are commonly used for Process Control to evaluate the interfacial strength between the bond wire and bond pad. However, these types of destructive test methods provide little or no insight about how the interaction of the aforementioned factors might affect the under-pad layer's susceptibility to damage.